


for you i'd bleed myself dry

by thewriterofperfectdisasters



Series: Various Prompts and Drabble Things [20]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: 4x11, Alternate Universe, M/M, also kinda post 4x11, but obvs doesn't die, ficadayinmay, mickey gets shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 14:56:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1692443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriterofperfectdisasters/pseuds/thewriterofperfectdisasters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'I won't do it, because I can't risk what we already have for the sake of freedom.'<br/>'This isn't freedom, though, Mick. This is living in a cage shrouded in the illusion of freedom.'</p><p>In response to a prompt asking for Mickey taking a bullet for Ian during the 4x11 fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	for you i'd bleed myself dry

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from 'Yellow' by Coldplay. (Yeah, I know. Second day in a row I'm using a line from that song for a title.)

_You happy now?_

All Mickey could see was Ian's face, shock spreading slowly over what Mickey had just done. He had outed himself. To everyone. Including his father.

Ian was standing in front of the door quietly, coming to the realisation that he couldn't leave now. He wouldn't leave now. It was pretty obvious that Mickey hadn't done this because he wanted to, he had done this because he needed to in order to keep Ian close.

Music started up again, and for a second, Mickey thought he had gotten lucky. Maybe his father hadn't heard his announcement. Maybe Terry just didn't care, but the possibility of that being the case was as likely as him bending over to take it up the ass.

And then, Terry flipped. Literally. A table flew sideways with a battle cry of, "I'll fucking kill you!" Terry charged forwards, whacking things off another table then giving a secondary battle cry of, "You son of a bitch!"

Mickey threw the first punch, which was then followed up by Terry landing a hit on him and pushing him back towards the wall.

Ian leaped into action, rushing towards where Mickey was now swinging a beer bottle at his father. It shattered against Terry's temple before he picked Mickey up and threw him to the floor.

Terry ignored his son and took the opportunity to yank a gun from the back of his jeans. Where the fuck he had gotten it after only being out of jail for a couple of hours, who the fuck knew. All that registered with Mickey, as he lay on the floor staring up at the gun and hand holding it, was that the business end was directed at Ian.

It was strange. Mickey had never known his father to ask first, shoot later, but who cared, it worked in Mickey's favour. While his father was yelling at Ian (something about "Goddamn ass digger"?), Mickey scrambled up and grabbed the nozzle of the gun, trying to direct it away from Ian.

Anywhere but Ian. The one person he had actually  _fought_ to keep in his life. The person he had literally risked his life for by coming out. This fight with Terry proved that.

Unfortunately for Mickey, although Ian was no longer a target, Terry pulled the trigger right as the gun passed over Mickey.

There was a feeling like someone had just shoved a white hot poker through his chest, and Mickey passed out.

 

* * *

 

_'I can't do it.' Mickey said, shaking his head. 'Do you fucking understand how suicidal that would be?'_

_'Mick, you can't live like this.' Ian sighed. '_ I  _can't live like this.'_

_'My dad would kill me himself if he knew I was-' Mickey couldn't say "If he knew I was gay." because once he did that, he could never go back to this life of not acknowledging it. He sighed and changed his line of argument. 'It would be a death sentence.'_

_'Wouldn't you rather live life as yourself? Not as the person people want you to be?' Ian's eyes flicked to Mickey on the couch beside him. He took a handful of popcorn and turned his attention back to the movie. 'We would be free, Mick.'_

_'You know how dangerous my dad is, Ian. You know what he's capable of.' Mickey took a long pull of his beer. 'I won't do it, because I can't risk what we already have for the sake of freedom.'_

_'This isn't freedom, though, Mick. This is living in a cage shrouded in the illusion of freedom.'_

_Mickey sighed and put his hand tentatively on Ian's knee. 'Firecrotch, what you and I have makes me free. Not what everyone else thinks they know.'_

_'It's not enough, Mick.' Ian covered Mickey's hand with his own. 'When the time comes, you have to come out. Not just for me, but for yourself.'_

_Mickey nodded. 'I know. I just... Not to my dad. I would rather live in my cage with you than die and be without you.'_

 

* * *

 

As Mickey's eyes opened, the first thing he noticed was how white everything was.  _I'm dead. Awesome._ He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. He saw that the white was, in fact, more kind of a faded beige, and then from the corner of his eye, he saw orange. _  
_

'Ian?' Mickey croaked. God, his throat felt like he hadn't drunk anything in years.

The head shot up. 'Mick? How do you feel?'

At Ian's question, a stab of pain went through him. 'Ow, okay, fuck. What happened?'

Ian looked down to where he was holding one of Mickey's hands between both of his own. He rubbed Mickey's knuckles soothingly and spoke softly. 'You um, you redirected Terry's gun from me. He pulled the trigger as it passed across your left shoulder. It tore through the muscle.'

'Oh.' Mickey glanced down at his bandage covered shoulder. 'What do the doctors say?'

'You should be fine.' Ian said. 'They're optimistic of a full recovery.'

'That's good.' Mickey scooted backwards into a sitting position. 'What's up?' he asked, noting Ian's expression.

'It's just.. You got shot for me.'

Mickey smiled wryly. 'You say that like this is the first time it's happened, Firecrotch.'

Ian smiled a little at the nickname. Or maybe it was a nostalgic smile about the first two incidents. 'Yeah, but the first time was because Kash was a jealous douche, and the second time you were kind of robbing some old lady's house. And neither of those times, were you really considering the possibility of getting shot.'

'Not like I go  _looking_ for situations I can get myself shot in.' Mickey grumbled, watching Ian rub his fingers.

'Yeah, I know, but... This time, you knew you had a fucking high chance of getting shot, and you did it anyway. You literally risked your life for me.'

'Isn't that what you do for people you love?' Mickey asked, glancing up to Ian's face.

Ian smiled and leaned over to kiss Mickey lightly. 'Yeah. Yeah, I suppose it is.'


End file.
